House Training
The basics of house training are very simple – never let your puppy go in the wrong place!
- Take him out frequently and wait with him until he goes to the loo.
- Praise and reward when he goes in the right place.
- Be consistent in supervising your puppy for a whole weekend and you will be pleased and surprised with how quickly your puppy can be clean.
- If you can’t keep an eye on him, restrict him to a crate or confined to an easily cleaned area.
Frequent, regular trips outside.
Take your pup outside on the hour, every hour, during the day and evening. Wait with him until he goes to the toilet, then praise him profusely.
Learn to predict when your puppy will need to go to the toilet.
Your puppy will usually start to sniff around and turn in circles when he is about to go to the loo. Don’t wait! Quickly encourage your puppy to follow you outside. As soon as he goes in the right place praise quietly and reward him with a food treat. If your puppy doesn’t go, take him back inside and SUPERVISE him carefully before trying again fifteen minutes later.
It can be useful to give your pup a command to go to the toilet. Simply choose a word that is suitable. Each time your puppy goes to the toilet say your command while he is going, then reward him. After a short period your pup will associate the command with going to the toilet outside and will hopefully automatically stimulate him to go to the toilet on cue.
No Punishment!
If your puppy has an accident, clean it up calmly, using biological detergent solution if appropriate. Do NOT scold your puppy. Punishment of any kind may delay house training and harm your relationship with your dog. Make sure your puppy learns by trial and success!
Problems
Help! My puppy is clean during the day but still messes at night. Suggestions: Some puppies take longer than others to have full control through the night. After about 14 weeks it is fair to expect that they can manage this. Make sure your puppy has been to the loo before bed. Then confine him to a small area. It is quite unusual for dogs to soil their bed area, so have your vet check him over if he does.
Help! My puppy refuses to go out to the toilet, even when the back door is open, but uses the newspaper indoors. Suggestions: Ah! Two problems here. One, shut the back door and then follow the instructions above. To a puppy an open back door means there’s no difference between in and out, so make sure you are there to supervise. Two, get rid of the newspaper ! This looks like an indoor loo to your pup – and we are condoning it by providing it!
Help! My puppy is eating his own mess. Yuk! How can we stop him? Suggestions: Don’t panic! Lots of puppies do this and while it’s very unpleasant, it won’t harm your pup. Nearly all puppies quickly grow out of it, but in the meantime do clean up after your pup straight away. If the behaviour persists, a diet change may help. Ask your vet for advice.
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